


One Hundred Days

by Kirimizi



Category: Original - Fandom
Genre: Budding Romance, Café, Coffee, College scenery, M/M, Original Character(s), lgbtqa+, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28004160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirimizi/pseuds/Kirimizi
Summary: A budding romance begins with unsteady thoughts, taking us down a path of no return.





	One Hundred Days

One Hundred Days

A deeply grey sky wore over the lazy city, as the time crept towards ten in the morning. A young man sat in a metal diner chair outside his favorite cafe establishment. He inhaled the incoming breeze, sensing the impending storm brewing in the clouds above. In a few moments, he seemed to intake his entire coffee without hesitation. His nerves were already a mess and now his coffee was all gone.

The minutes passed like hours. Not a second went by that he didn't feel his nerves well up into his gut. When he received the call earlier that morning to meet up with someone dear to him, he hadn't been the same since. By the time nine struck the clock, he was already out the door. 

He was planning on spending his only day off this week lounging around with his cat and avoiding all human contact until tomorrow. But contrary to his wants, the call was something he needed much more. Or so he thought, before the dread and anxiety came back and made its home in his body.

Part of him wanted to go back inside and order a second coffee, as he got up from his seat and threw out his empty plastic cup. Unfortunately, his time ran out, as the man who called earlier was slowly approaching him. His heart leaped into his throat, and he simply waved, trying his hardest not to show the fear dwelling within his heart. 

"Damien. You're earlier than I expected." The shy young man stood stiffly over the garbage can, before walking around it and back towards the round iron table. He gestured for Damien to sit across from him to which he obliged. 

"I guess I'm the early type," Damien said, pushing back his wavy black bangs out of his face. "I wanted to see you as soon as I could, Noah." The soft voice that left his mouth seemed unlike his usual stoic behavior. 

Noah sighed, unsure how to begin this uncomfortable conversation. 

About three months ago, his best friend and longtime classmate left suddenly. Almost as if overnight, he disappeared. Beyond untraceable, phone calls and texts were rejected left and right. Noah frantically asked around, doing everything he could to find Damien. His heart sank when he heard from a mutual friend that Damien had plans to move away for weeks without telling him. 

"Why did you leave?" Noah blurted out, trying his best to keep calm.   
"Getting right to it, huh?" Damien adjusted himself in his seat. "Let me buy you a coffee first before we get into it. What do you want, it's on me." He went to get up before Noah stopped him. His hand instantly laid onto his before he shamefully took it away. 

"I'll just take a macchiato, thank you." Noah muttered before Damien made his way inside to make the order. Noah didn't want to admit how fast he sucked down his last coffee solely from anxiety. 

Noah sighed, relieved for the few minutes he would have to himself to gather his thoughts. He wasn't sure how to properly react to the situation. Noah yearned to see Damien for what seemed like forever. Especially since the sudden move. 

The scents of fresh brewed coffee beans lingered outside the cafe. Noah loved the smell of fresh made coffee, finding a peace in it he couldn't find elsewhere. Throughout his time in college, visiting family members, and whatever else life threw his way, he knew he could always rely on coffee to give him what he needed to get through it all. 

It was this precise cafe where the two met. The memory seemed so far off, where Noah had absentmindedly crashed into Damien and spilled both their beverages all over each other during finals season. After that moment, the two were inseparable. 

Damien came back out with two coffees in each hand. He hesitantly walked back over to the space that Noah had occupied. He placed the macchiato in front of Noah, then sat himself back in his seat across the table. With both hands on their own coffee, Damien did his best to avoid Noah's gazing eyes. 

"Damien. You'll have to talk to me eventually." Noah took a sip of his second iced coffee, almost repeating the last coffee's inevitable fate until he stopped himself. He directed his gaze down to Damien's dark cold brew. Damien himself was unsure how to respond.

"I didn't know how to tell you I was moving. I wasn't sure I was ready to tell you any of that."  
"If that were the case, then why didn't I hear from you at all? Why choose now to get ahold of me?" Noah spoke softly, keeping his cool. His coffee was slowly draining from the plastic cup.

"I missed you..." Damien quietly mumbled. Noah's eyes widened, before diverting his eyes back to his own half empty drink. A gentle blush ripened on his cheeks. He shook his head, in an attempt to stay on track.   
"I still don't get it. Are you here to laugh at me for the texts?" Noah straightened himself out, adamant about staying defensive now that he brought up the frantic text messages. 

"No!" Damien belted out, attracting a few scattered customers' attention. He sank in his seat before continuing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. The last thing I wanted was to leave you like that, especially after you poured yourself out to me the way you did the night before." 

Noah felt his gut twitching. The last thing he needed was this second coffee on top of all this arguing. He sucked down a few gulps of coffee soon after, running his fingers through his caramel colored hair. 

"Please, believe me when I say that I didn't want to leave you behind." Damien's tone softened.   
"Then why did you? How come everyone else knew except me?"   
"Because! I wanted to tell you how I felt in person, but I ran out of time!" Damien started to take a deep breath before the next words came out of his mouth.   
"Noah, I love you!" His voice was sharp and cut through the soft music playing outside the cafe. 

Noah's time of death was that approximate moment. His heart went faster than ever, even more so than the night those heartfelt texts were sent prior to Damien's sudden move. 

"Damien, you don't have to lie to me just because I told you how I felt…" Noah shifted around in his seat and scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact at all costs. His face was flushed beyond words. 

"I mean it. Since the moment we met here four years ago. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you sooner." Damien wanted nothing more than to speak out about his feelings. 

"It's okay." Noah fought through his feelings in an attempt to calm him down. Noah himself could not feel anything else besides the heart beat ready to pound out of his chest.

"It was so hard to be without you," Damien tried to breathe but found himself almost out of breath by the time he was done. "The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. But that's all I did at the end of the day." Tears streamed down the side of his face, stunning Noah. Never did he think Damien could feel something so strongly, especially about someone like him.

Noah reached out and took Damien's shaky hand. A few squeezes later, he brought the hand up to his lips, and laid a soft kiss on top. Noah smiled as he held on tight to the hand that held him back.

"All I wanted for the last three months was an answer. I'm just happy you're here with me now." Noah whispered and leaned in closer. "I love you, too." 

Neither knew what this day would bring to them. However, their morning coffee was just the beginning of a new era. Noah and Damien would spend the next few hours outside their beloved cafe, sharing their thoughts and stealing sips from each other's beverages. 

They caught up with one another, sharing every detail from the last one hundred days they spent apart.


End file.
